


What If I Never Get Over You?

by giantpanda



Category: The Good Doctor (TV 2017)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Depression, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Post-Finale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:00:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25038130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/giantpanda/pseuds/giantpanda
Summary: A brief glimpse into Claire's grief.
Relationships: Claire Browne/Neil Melendez
Comments: 6
Kudos: 20





	What If I Never Get Over You?

**Author's Note:**

> I heard the song, "What if I Never Get Over You?" by Lady A, and immediately thought of Claire and Neil. This is just a very short look into her grief after his death.

_It's supposed to hurt, it's a broken heart  
But the moving on is the hardest part  
It comes in waves, the letting go  
But the memory fades, everybody knows, everybody knows_

_What if I'm trying, but then I close my eyes and then I'm right back  
Lost in that last goodbye, what if time doesn't do what it's supposed to do?  
What if I never get over you?  
"What if I never Get Over You?" Lady A_

He’d been gone a month. Every day Claire walked into the hospital she was hit by his absence. She missed his support and guidance. But most of all she missed his love and all that they never got to do together. She was numb and exhausted. She hadn’t had a decent night of sleep since that night. She could still feel the touch of his hand in her hair, could still see the look in his eyes as she laid her head on his chest, could still remember the moment he took his last breath.

She felt as if she was sleep walking through life. Going through the motions. She no longer went running. The silence beside her was too overwhelming. She hadn’t stepped out into the balcony or gone into his office. It was bad enough walking by it and seeing it empty. She no longer lingered in the locker room waiting for him to sit beside her. She never realized how much she needed him, how much she had grown to depend on their friendship, how deeply engrained that he was in her heart. She felt as if a part of her had died with him that night.

She went to work and went home. She knew she was drinking too much but it was the only way to make it through. Despite what he said, she knew that he was the one who had saved her after she lost her mom. Now, she was alone. The others tried to talk to her, but they didn’t understand. She had allowed herself to love him, and now he was gone. Another casualty. She was toxic just like her mother.

Yet, she couldn’t allow herself to completely give into her despair. She had to make sure that she could keep going to work, keep helping her patients and being the best surgeon she could be. He had believed in her for so long, that even with him gone she didn’t want to disappoint him. She clung to that idea. The only thing that kept getting her out of bed each day was the thought of making him proud.

He had told her that night that she would be okay. It was the first time that he had ever lied to her. She knew without a doubt that she would never be okay. She would never forget him. All she could do was keep going to work until the day she may meet him again.


End file.
